


It's Not Her

by Pippinpaddleopsicopolis (Barnable)



Series: Together, We Are An Ocean [6]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Coming Out, Crushes, Day Six: Modern AU, Gen, Implied Aang/Katara (Avatar), Implied Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), POV Sokka (Avatar), Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sibling Love, Water Siblings Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:28:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26396410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barnable/pseuds/Pippinpaddleopsicopolis
Summary: Katara is convinced that her brother is still in love with his ex-girlfriend, and jokes about it after being teased for her crush on Aang. Sokka doesn't know how to tell her it's not a girl he has a thing for.
Relationships: Katara & Sokka (Avatar)
Series: Together, We Are An Ocean [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933663
Comments: 17
Kudos: 145





	It's Not Her

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

Sokka rolled his eyes for the dozenth time since they sat down. He knew his sister was just messing with him, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to get up and walk away right then. She didn’t like his admittedly horrible teaching methods? She didn’t have to put up with it. But he was a good big brother and so he decided to deal with her attitude. Just for a couple hours.

“Yes, I’m sure I know what I’m doing,” said Sokka, his tone almost mocking. He pushed a hand through his hair, tugging at the bottom of it before turning his attention back to his pencil. “In case you forgot, I happened to four-point this class when I took it. Not only that, but I did it by only skimming the assigned reading. Call me someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing now.”

“All right, whatever.” Katara sighed, reaching forward to grab her pencil from the pile of schoolwork between them. “Just help me, okay? I want to get a good grade in this class, and I can’t do that if I fail this exam.”

He only nodded as he turned back to continue scanning over Katara’s work. Technically, she hadn’t asked him to look over her practice sheet before they got started, he just wanted to know where she was going in. So far, it was great. There were a few wrong answers in there, but overall, she’d done pretty well. She could do with fixing the decor in her dorm—he wasn’t too fond of the ceiling light, as it shone a little too much glare on his glasses—but her work was good.

They sat in silence while he finished going through the rest of her exam and grabbed the textbook and his note cards to start reviewing. At first, Sokka wasn’t intending to say anything else, just start reading and explaining the things that Katara was having trouble with. But then he looked up to find his sister smiling down at her phone and made a snap decision that he knew would come back to bite him in the ass, even if it didn’t happen the way he expected.

“Did you say Aang’s in this class too?” asked Sokka casually, though the look on his face was incriminating. “Not for any particular reason, I just thought maybe you were trying to get better at this so that you could impress him a little.”

“Excuse me?” Of course, Katara would never let a stupid guy dictate her life and took immediate offense to her brother’s words. She glared at him, clicking her phone to sleep, and setting it onto the floor at her side. “No, Aang isn’t in this class, and even if he were, it wouldn’t matter. I want to get good grades so I can go to medical school, not to impress some himbo.”

“Aang is not a himbo, he’s— never mind. Anyway, I’m not saying you’re trying to impress Aang, I’m just saying you bought four things of lip gloss while we were at the store earlier, and you usually only get one at a time, so…”

“Yeah, and you bought six things of bannock and a case of Labrador tea. You don’t even _like_ tea.”

Immediately, Sokka reached over and grabbed his mug, taking a sip of his tea passive-aggressively. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. You’re still making me iced akutaq later, right?”

“That depends on whether you actually help me or not,” said Katara, crossing her arms. She gave him a look, to which Sokka could only groan. He knew she’d still make the iced akutaq, but it wouldn’t be for him. “And by the way, you’re in no place to be talking to me about Aang. Everyone knows you still have a thing for Suki.”

Rather than responding, Sokka turned back to the textbook in front of him. He did not have a thing for Suki, and he was very tired of everyone acting like he did. Yes, they dated in high school. Yes, they had a great relationship. No, they were not together anymore, and no, they had no intentions of rekindling it. They were best friends and they would always be best friends, but they were better that way. As _friends_. But society apparently had a problem with that.

“Not going to say anything?”

“I don’t have a thing for Suki,” Sokka grumbled, unable to meet her gaze. If he looked up, she’d want him to elaborate, and he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t explain. “We’re just friends, Katara. We haven’t been a couple in years.”

“I know that, but you two were great together, Sokka.” He shifted uncomfortably when Katara dropped her pencil down, clearly intending to continue the conversation despite how badly he wanted it to end. “I know you still like her, I’ve seen you giggling at your phone and putting on too much of that damn body spray. I think you should give it another shot. Maybe you only broke up because you weren’t ready yet, you know? High school was a different world.”

Sokka shook his head, lifting his left hand to chew on his thumbnail while he worked. It wasn’t about Suki. He didn’t have a thing for her anymore and he hadn’t had a thing for her in a long time. But he had a thing for someone. He had a thing for someone and Katara apparently knew that and the only way he could avoid admitting to who was to keep working. So, he did. He wrote until he ran out of words and then he started doodling, chewing his nail until it was bit down to nothing.

“Are you okay?” The question was surprising and didn’t come until a few minutes later, jarring Sokka from his thoughts. He looked up to where Katara sat across from him, tugging at the sleeves of her pale blue sweatshirt, and crossing her jean-covered legs beneath her. “Sorry, it’s just… you’re chewing on your thumb. You only do that when you’re stressed. I didn’t mean to pressure you or anything, I was just joking around.”

“No, I know, I just don’t like her like that,” said Sokka, tucking a stray hair behind his ear. He swallowed hard as he clapped his flash cards together, hoping Katara wouldn’t push him to say anything else. “Okay, I think I got everything sorted if you’re ready to start.”

“In a minute. Are you sure you’re all right? Honestly, if you’re not ready to do anything yet, then you don’t have to—”

“It’s not that I’m not ready, I just don’t want to get back together with her. Seriously, we’re just friends. Why can’t everyone just leave us alone? We aren’t together anymore and we’re not ever going to be so just leave it alone.”

“Sokka, I know you like her. I’ve known you your whole life, I can tell when you have a crush on someone. After you and Suki broke up, you didn’t buy any cologne for two _years_. Why would you start wearing it again if you weren’t trying to win her back? Come on. Just tell me and I’ll tell you about Aang.”

He shook his head. He couldn’t tell her because he wasn’t lying. Sokka was in love with Suki once but that was years ago. He didn’t love her anymore, not like that, and he didn’t want to be with her like that either. But it wasn’t as easy as telling Katara the truth because she wouldn’t look at him the same way. She’d stare and she’d freeze, and she wouldn’t tell him to leave but they’d never be able to talk to each other the way they did ever again. He ignored her glare as he resumed chewing on his nail.

“The reason I took religious studies last year wasn’t because I needed the elective—I mean, I did, but I had a ton of options—it was because I knew Aang was taking it. There. Now you tell me why you keep making flirty faces at your phone and wearing so much cologne if you don’t like Suki.”

“You’re trying to bribe me?” Sokka snorted, glancing up to give her a look before rolling his eyes again. “I don’t like her, Katara. She’s just my friend.”

“Then why are you being so weird about this whole thing?” asked Katara, her tone almost exasperated. “Sokka, I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but you look so stressed all of a sudden. If you’re not hiding the fact that you have a crush on Suki, then what are you—”

“I like Zuko, okay?”

That shut her up. Suddenly, the most deafening silence fell over the room, and all Sokka could hear were his own quiet breaths and the pounding of his heart in his ears. He glanced up for the shortest second, wanting to see what her reaction was, but it was too much to bear. Katara was only staring at him, her eyes wide in disbelief and her mouth hanging slightly open as she failed to find the right words to say.

He knew it was a mistake to say anything. Those four stupid words fell out of his mouth in a rage and now she couldn’t look at him anymore. His own sister was staring at him like he was a freak and there was nothing he could do about it. Sokka pulled his thumb from his mouth and brushed his hands against his legs, beginning to rise to his feet, but didn’t make it further than he knees before Katara suddenly tackled him with a hug.

Sokka froze when his sister’s arms first wrapped around his shoulders, but he managed to relax after a few seconds and drape his own around her waist. Neither of them moved for a long moment, Katara clinging to her brother tightly and Sokka holding back as his breathing finally started to relax. It was okay. They were okay. Everything was going to be okay. He took a deep breath when they finally pulled apart, brushing his hands over his eyes, and turning his gaze to his feet.

“Are you okay, Sokka?” Katara’s voice was quiet, one hand reaching out to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. He only nodded, unable to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry that I made you tell me that before you were ready. And I’m sorry you were so scared.”

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault.” It really wasn’t. It had nothing to do with Katara, it was just the world in general. Society taught him that he should be afraid of admitting to his feelings. That every time he told someone, he risked alienating them forever. “Sorry I was being stupid about Aang.”

“That doesn’t matter, I know you were just joking. But are you okay? Do you— Do you want to talk about it, or…?”

“I don’t know.” Sokka shrugged awkwardly, picking at the carpet by his feet. So far, he’d only come out to Suki, and that was just because she came out first. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say next and trying to figure it out wasn’t easy. “It’s not like it’s special or anything, I just— I don’t know. I like him.”

“That’s great, Sokka.” Clearly trying to repair her mistake, Katara reached out again, putting forth the kindest smile she’d worn in ages. “I’m happy for you, really, and if you ever want to talk about it… I’m here. Not just about Zuko, but you know, anything. I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone in this.”

“No, I— I don’t. Don’t worry. Suki knows, at least, so. I’m bi, by the way. I’m not— we really were together, just— I don’t know. I met Zuko and something weird happened and it took me a while to figure it out but yeah. I really like him. A lot. Sorry if it’s weird for you.”

“It’s not weird at all. At least, not weirder than me having a crush on your best friend.” She chuckled, and Sokka barely managed to force a smile in return. It wasn’t that he was unhappy, he was just _so damn uncomfortable_. “Have you said anything to Zuko about it yet?”

He snorted. “Not more than you’ve said to Aang. ‘Bad at flirting’ really runs in the family, doesn’t it?”

“We’re no experts, that’s for sure. That’s all right, though. Aang and Zuko aren’t exactly smooth either.”

Sokka nodded, the grin easily spreading this time. They were all pretty terrible at romance. Aang was absolutely in love with Katara, he just failed to express it in a way that she seemed to understand. And Sokka had no idea how Zuko felt about him, but he was so bad at talking in general, there was no way that his flirting could possibly be much better.

Not quite sure what to say next, Sokka tapped his pencil against the flash cards in front of him, glancing up to Katara who’d yet to go on. She twisted her own pencil around in her hands, pushing her long brown hair behind her ear as she shifted back into her seat, inhaling deeply when she looked up to meet Sokka’s gaze. His eyes flickered before he could hold it.

“You want to work on this later?” she asked, gesturing to the textbooks between them. “The akutaq will be a lot better if it’s actually iced when we’re ready for it.”

“Wait, you’re still going to make it for me?” Sokka pressed a hand to his chest, batting his lashes gratefully.

She rolled her eyes. “I never said it was for you.”

“You said ‘we’. That means it’s for both of us.”

“I never said you were the other person.”

“Oh, no.” He glared at his sister, crossing his arms against his chest. “If you’re about to tell me you invited Aang over for _our_ private study session, I swear—”

“Not Aang! Dad,” said Katara, giving him a look. She rose to her feet, holding out a hand to help Sokka up as well. He took it, hoping she didn’t realize how much his hands were still shaking. “I’m going to swing by before my class in the morning to bring some over, and I want to make sure it’s actually frozen by then. Who knows how late we’ll be up studying. I mean, I’ll get some sleep during your rambles, but still.”

“Excuse me?” Sokka’s jaw dropped, and he dropped a hand in front of the doorway to stop her from walking out on him. “‘My rambles’?”

“Okay, look, you know I love you and I really appreciate your help, but you can get a little much sometimes. Not that it’s a bad thing! But one time I asked you to remind me how to do long division and somehow you ended up on some tangent about calculus.”

“Well, that was before they put me on Adderall. I’m not that bad anymore.”

“Really? Are you sure about that? When you got here, I asked how you were, and you went on for twenty minutes about your physics class.”

“You asked!”

Though his tone was a little annoyed, humor took over as the dominant emotion as he finally shifted and allowed Katara to leave the room. He followed behind her, continuing on with their bickering the whole way into the kitchen and while they started to cook too. They started just talking about school stuff, but eventually it devolved into their crushes again and somehow, Sokka was okay with it.

He was scared at first. He really was, but Katara was the perfect sister. She just smiled and supported him and teased him about Zuko the same way she had with Suki and Yue. Sokka returned the favor with _plenty_ of comments about Aang, and by the time they sat down to snack on some of the unfrozen akutaq a while later, he was smiling like nothing happened.

Sokka didn’t know what he did to deserve such a great family, but whatever it was, he was unbelievably grateful for. Even if Katara did only share a few bites of her akutaq.


End file.
